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Energy Performance Certificates

From 1st October 2008, it has become a legal requirement for us to produce Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for houses that are either relet or sold through right to buy.

Any house that becomes empty will be surveyed to see how energy efficient and environmentally friendly it is. Information collected from the survey will be used to create an EPC for the house, which will be shown to those bidding for the property under the HomeLink scheme. This is already a legal requirement for owner occupied homes.

Each EPC is valid for 10 years and need to be renewed when they expire. None of our tenants will have to pay for one.

They are issued on our properties when you sign up for a new tenancy.

What is the purpose of an Energy Performance Certificate?

The certificate shows how energy efficient and environmentally friendly a house is. The more energy efficient a house is, the less gas and electricity it needs to keep it warm, and therefore the cheaper your bills will be.

A survey will be carried out on a property by an energy assessor who will look at various things such as how thick the property’s insulation is, what kind of heating system it has, and whether it has double-glazing or not. This information is then uploaded to a national database and from it the certificate is produced.

The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the method by which the energy efficiency of a property is measured.

How is the certificate assessed?

It assumes an 'average' occupancy of two adults and two children with adults working during the day and the children at school. The family uses 9 hours of energy - two in the morning and seven in the evening.

The estimated fuel and carbon dioxide emissions given on the certificate assume these standard levels, not the number of people in your house of the amount of energy you personally use. Obviously, not all useages will be the same so these figures will be slightly different in real life.

What is being done to improve the energy efficiency of my home?

As part of the Decent Homes Programme, we are carrying out several improvements to our properties. This includes double glazing under the 'Nottingham Secure' scheme and insulation and new efficient heating systems under 'Warmth for Nottingham', for example. These measures all help to increase the energy efficiency of your property and help reduce your bills.

We will not be installing items such as solar panels and wind turbines in either our properties or in the nearby area yet as it is more difficult to get cost savings using these measures. The best way to save money and energy is to install good thermal insulation to properties and using energy efficient equipment in homes such as washing machines.

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